1. BATTERY TRICKLE CHARGER

What it does: A trickle charger recharges and conditions your vehicle’s battery, if the way you use your vehicle doesn’t quite do the job. A trickle charger is a good idea on a multitude of vehicles, and especially ones that are driven irregularly, seasonally, or on frequent short trips where the engine doesn’t run for long, and therefore, doesn’t charge the battery fully. Simply connect the trickle charger to your ride’s battery terminals when it’ll be sitting more than a couple of days, and the battery charge is maintained, even if you’re not driving.

How it saves you money: Most cars, and especially modern ones, are both hard on their batteries, and extremely fussy about having the proper amount of voltage to run their complex and sophisticated systems properly. A multitude of pricey and frustrating issues with vehicle systems and electronics these days can actually be the result of a weak battery, and with numerous vehicle systems draining the battery slowly while the vehicle is parked, a weak battery is a key cause of no-start situations, too. A trickle charger prevents these issues by keeping your battery in tip-top shape at all times, and topping it up while you’re parked.

The gist: If your ride will regularly be parked for several days at a time, for the entire winter, or for a few weeks while you’re on vacation, a trickle charger will keep it healthy and topped up, preventing issues that will frustrate you, cost money to diagnose, and maybe even prevent your car from starting.

Bonus benefits: Thanks to a conditioning function included with many trickle chargers, your battery may last longer. Further, with a trickle charger, there’s no need to remove the battery and store it for the winter, if you’re rocking a sports car that spends the colder months sleeping in your garage.

2. FRESH CABIN AIR FILTER

Cost: $20 at your dealer, or favourite parts store

What it does: A cabin air filter separates your ride’s cabin from the dusty, dirty air outside. Placed in your ride’s HVAC system, all air entering your vehicle for heating and cooling must first pass through this filter to be cleaned of contaminants. Typically, these filters aren’t large, so they clog relatively quickly, and should be changed regularly. If you don’t know what a cabin air filter is, or whether your ride has one, it’s probably begging to be changed.

How it saves you money: A clean cabin air filter might just save you a trip to a mechanic to diagnose issues with heat or AC system performance, or even to fix damaged components.

Mechanic Nick Labrie comments “cabin air filters are the first thing I look at when a customer comes in complaining of poor performance from their heat or air conditioning system. About eight times out of 10, the customer had no idea this filter existed, or required changing, and a new filter fixes the issue. The customer is usually pretty happy — in most cases, changing a cabin air filter is easy, quick, and inexpensive.”

But there’s more. A clogged cabin air filter can actually wear and damage AC system components over time, as restricted airflow allows an excess buildup of condensation and ice within the system, limits the transmission of cold air into the cabin, and causes the entire system to work harder, more of the time. In extreme cases, that excess condensation and ice buildup can even allow water to leak into the vehicle’s cabin, causing other issues.

The gist: Keeping your cabin air filter clean can prevent a trip to your mechanic to diagnose issues with your ride’s heating and cooling system, and can help your air conditioner to be more reliable, and longer-lasting.

Bonus benefits: With a clean cabin air filter, your ride will heat and defog faster in the winter. Since the AC system won’t need to work as hard, you’ll save money on gas, too. Many cabin air filters are even offered with built-in air freshener treatments, which can make your ride smell like the fibrous, glistening innards of a ripe pineapple, not damp hockey gear and the family dog.

3. NEW SPARK PLUGS

Cost: Varies widely between vehicles

What it does: Spark plugs these days last a long time, but they still need to be changed regularly to keep your engine ticking in top-notch fashion. This is extra important in those engines which run direct fuel injection, marketed as GDI, TSI, TFSI, Skyactiv, and the like.

Why? This type of engine is even fussier than most about having a very precise and controlled combustion process occurring within its cylinders, and staying on top of factory-prescribed maintenance, at the specified intervals, is extremely important.

In any engine, fresh spark plugs ensure performance is delivered at factory-specified levels, though in modern engines, fresh spark plugs can prevent numerous issues with other pricey-to-fix components, too.

How it saves you money: In one example provided by a service technician at a German luxury car dealer, a customer drove tens of thousands of kilometres over the factory prescribed interval for his spark plugs.

His car continued to run properly, until it didn’t: skipping the spark-plug change on this direct-injected V8 engine ruined the spark plugs, meaning the coil-packs, which fire those plugs, needed to work harder to create a spark.

Overworking to fire dirty plugs causes those coil packs to overheat, and in this case, eventually damaged five of the eight the coil packs. Damaged coil packs caused misfiring, which contributed to a sub-optimal (and dirtier) combustion process, itself causing a build-up of gunk on the intake valves and spark-plugs. The misfiring also damaged several fuel injectors, which also needed to be replaced.

In engines like this one, dirty spark plugs have a rapidly-snowballing effect on other systems and components, though a fresh set of plugs would have totally prevented it — and saved this customer a boatload of cash.

The gist: Changing your ride’s spark plugs on time, especially if you’re running a six- or eight-cylinder engine, can be a moderately expensive job, but it’s considerably cheaper than replacing fuel injectors and coil packs, and wasting fuel on every drive.

Bonus benefits: With clean and healthy spark-plugs, your ride will perform better, use less fuel, and emit considerably less pollution, too.